Dewey Hooper, Elon graduate and bomber pilot, died in 1942. Eighty years later, the resurfacing of his 1940 class ring compelled archivist and assistant librarian Randall Bowman to share Hooper’s story.
Bowman initially planned to conduct research tying Elon University and World War II together to commemorate the 80th anniversary of the bombing of Pearl Harbor.
“I stumbled across the Dewey Hooper collection, and I started digging into it and got fascinated with not only what happened to him in his very brief time in the war, before he was killed, but also what happened 50 years later,” Bowman said.
While visiting family in Australia, Ron Deering discovered the wreckage from Hooper’s flight. Bowman said Deering simply happened to be up on the mountain exploring the wreckage when he found Hooper’s belongings. He traveled back to his home, where he got in touch with Elon. From there, Hooper’s family was contacted and his belongings were returned, but later, the objects were donated back to the university to be stored in the archives.
Hooper’s class ring from then-Elon College serves as the centerpiece of the exhibit. “The first time I actually looked at that I really got quite a thrill,” Bowman said.
He described the gold alloy band with a garnet gemstone as “probably not worth a whole lot of money as far as the materials,” but rather rich in school pride. Bowman said he believes that Hooper saw the ring as a memento or “something to look at or remind him where he came from because he’s far away from home.”
Bowman hoped to reach a wide array of people by launching Hooper’s exhibit online.
“The main thing was that I just wanted to get the story together in one place, all the different threads of it. And I hope that people, students, will take a look at it and be interested,” he said.
To learn more about Dewey Hooper’s life and view his class ring, visit the Dewey Hooper collection located in the Belk library archives.
Olivia Frey was born and raised in Chicago and attends Niles North High School in Skokie, Illinois. As editor-in-chief of the school’s yearbook, she directed and organized the theme, supervised writing and production, and also supported marketing efforts. In addition, Olivia previously served as managing editor of the school’s newspaper, the North Star News, where she mentored other student writers, edited stories and managed content direction. Olivia looks forward to serving as editor-in-chief during her senior year. After high school, she plans to pursue a career related to political science and writing.
Chloe Kiser was born in Chapel Hill, North Carolina, and raised in Edinboro, Pennsylvania. A student at General McLane High School, she serves as student body president and has held leadership roles within various academic clubs, including Envirothon, Battle of the Books, Future Business Leaders of America, National Honor Society, Link Crew and Key Club. Outside of school, Chloe works at an event center and is an avid musician and singer/songwriter, performing live at local breweries, community events and music festivals. She released her first EP, “Yours Truly,” as a sophomore. In the future, Chloe hopes to combine her passions for music and writing while pursuing a career in communications and journalism.
Michael Messele was born in St. Paul, Minnesota, and currently lives in Charlotte, North Carolina. A junior at East Mecklenburg High School, he’s been a staff member and editor of the school’s newspaper, The Eagle. While on staff he won awards for editorials he wrote about the insurrection on Jan. 6, 2021, and the mismanagement of assault cases in local high schools. Alongside his work at The Eagle, he takes photos for the athletic department and films short highlight reels. Outside of school, he’s working on a documentary called “Blind Eye,” which is about sexual assault cases that were mishandled by the administration at Myers Park High School. Michael looks forward to pursuing a career in journalism, so he can continue sharing important and unique stories.